A Single Eye: Reflecting on Spiritual Sight

I have been meditating on a verse of Scripture for the past few days…or not exactly meditating–more like, revelling in it:

 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.   (Luke 11:34  ESV)

Some translations read single or sound or clear, instead of ‘healthy’…all of them have seemed appropriate to me recently, since for at least two years I had definitely NOT had two eyes which were sound and clear.

Why I’m buying Ben Shapiro’s new book, ‘The People Vs. Barack Obama’…

Ben Shapiro is currently making the rounds as he promotes his new book, “The People Vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against the Obama Administration“. Having already read (and enjoyed) his last two books, I’m inclined to not only buy this one too, but suggest you grab it, as well.

Why? Because he’s unusually bright, he’s entertaining, …and he’s right most of the time.

Shapiro has been awfully busy since we covered his complete and utter evisceration of Piers Morgan on CNN last year. He’s launched the website for TruthRevolt.org in October of 2013 with David Horowitz, and successfully drafted some top-tier talent over there, as well. And he did all this while carrying-out his duties as Editor-At-Large of Breitbart.com.

Personally, in addition to reading his last couple of books, I’ve heard him (thanks to podcasting) fill-in for Jerry Doyle on Doyle’s radio show, be interviewed by Hugh Hewitt, and seen him appear on various cable news shows. In every case, Ben’s solid: often funny, always informed, and lightning quick. What comes across most clearly in these settings is just how thoroughly he’s chased-down his own ideology, and it’s why I’m highlighting a couple of examples below.

This first clip is quite recent, and has Shapiro commenting on (what else?) the Obama Administration and its chronic criminality:

Why not? #EPA says that THEIR subpoenaed emails were “lost” in a “computer crash”, too…

At this point, it may be easier to compile a list of the Federal Government employees whose computers DIDN’T “crash”.

This time, it’s the EPA which is allegedly suffering from Compu Spontaneius Breakus. But to place this newest chapter into context, a quick refresher is called for:

(via National Journal) –  “…Issa issued a subpoena in November for documents and communications between the Environmental Protection Agency and the Executive Office of the President over a five-year period as part of an inquiry into whether the White House interfered with how the agency responded to congressional inquiries. 

If the #IRS was going to “extraordinary lengths” to recover Lerner’s emails, …why didn’t they just pull the backed-up tapes WHICH EXISTED AT THE TIME?

One of the main tenets of the IRS’s (current) story about the Lerner emails is that they went to “extraordinary lengths” to recover them, but —darn the bad luck!!— they just couldn’t. Oh, well.

But based on the following questions from Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz, I’m guessing that YOUR definition of going to “extraordinary lengths” is probably not in sync with what the IRS’s definition seems to be:

One of our favorites: “Cello Wars” (The Piano Guys’ brilliant #StarWars parody)

We highlighted this waaaay back around the time it was released, but decided to give it a second showing today for a few reasons:

1. After all this time, some folks will have forgotten about it;
2. Countless others will not have seen it the first time around; and
3. My two sons really, really like it…

Weight, not Volume

It is a truism that things are often not what they seem. I was struck recently by a verse of scripture which suggests that volume (the apparent size of something) is far less important than weight (its true value). 

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We’ve all done it: we open a package–it’s a big box, suitably heavy. But what’s inside looks so much smaller than the outer wrapping promised. We are hard-pressed not to feel disappointed.  Why does size excite us so? Our Let’s Make a Deal impulse is to take whatever looks bigger: Do you want what’s in the box? No, let’s choose what’s behind the curtain!

Dear #IRS Commissioner Koskinen: “Nobody Believes You”

 

Have you ever wondered what the operative definition of “supercilious” was? How about “imperious“? “High-handed“, perhaps? Well, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen’s testimony today is as good an example of all of those as I could have provided previously:

“…I have a long career, that’s the first time anybody has said they don’t believe me…”

Based on the laughable claims you are currently making, Mr. Koskinen, I’d offer that such a description is likely long, long overdue:

The #IRS, Lois Lerner, and exactly how much IS a “smidgen of corruption”, anyway?

The IRS is lying.

Lerner and Company obviously figure that if they just keep the lies going, they’ll outlast Congress and any potential media scrutiny. Can’t fault them for the strategy, as it’s certainly worked out fine for them with EVERY OTHER SCANDAL so far…

But make sure you aren’t fooled by their denials, not even for an instant. From ex-CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson:

“…These emails are not stored on a signal server or a single computer, so if there were a crash of a hard drive or some sort of system failure, they would still be retrievable. According to [John] Koskinen, the IRS Commissioner at the time, he told Congress that emails were stored offsite. That jives with people who said emails were backed up daily. There is a responsibility on the part of government officials to retain the data, make sure that is and can’t be lost in the system. If it’s true that the emails are lost, that’s quite a story in itself…”